Loving the Lonely

            Pieter sat alone in his living room wondering about the quality of his life and if he had anyone close to him that would be interested in attending his funeral whenever that sad state of reality would eventually come to pass. As he scanned through multiple social media platforms, he eventually came across a brief article about something called a “lonely funeral”. This was something of which he had never heard before, he finally came to learn that when someone dies and they have no friends or family, a poet is hired to write a poem about their life and read it during their funeral even if no one else is in attendance.

               “Wow, that is incredibly sad,” Pieter thought, “the very idea that someone dies alone, has no friends or relatives in their life who would be interested in attending their funeral, and fades into obscurity as an unknown.” Feeling overwhelmed at the idea that such an event could take place, he walked away from his laptop, flopped onto his bed, stared at the ceiling and tried to think of a way to remove this sad type of story from the history of mankind.

               “Oh, I know,” he thought, “I should contact as many people as I can think of to help me with creating an organization who will attend these empty funerals and create a situation where this person is not forgotten and ignored in history.” Feeling a bit peckish, he pulled himself to his feet, walked into the kitchen and put together a snack of cheese and crackers, which he hoped would hold him over until it was time for dinner.

               With his cheese and crackers snack, he poured himself a small glass of red wine, found a notebook and began jotting down names of anyone he suspected might be interested in helping him with this new idea. Now with a partially satiated stomach and a list in his notebook of about thirty names, he returned to his laptop and began sending emails to those who may be interested in assisting him. After one hour of thoughtful work, he stepped away into his bedroom, did a bit of light stretching and a bit of weight lifting. He then took a shower, dressed into his loose and comfortable pajamas, and returned to the kitchen to put together a dinner.

               He finished his evening meal, cleaned up the dining area and the kitchen, reclined on his bed and began reading a novel he had begun several days prior. Aggressively yawning, he set the novel aside, brushed his teeth, turned off his light, and slipped beneath his covers. He woke the next morning and found that twenty-five people expressed interest in assisting him with the “lonely funeral” problem that was plaguing the Netherlands.

               In response, he wrote a single email and sent it to those who had positively responded to his request. Part way through his work day, he contacted a lawyer to help him create an organization called “Loving the Lonely”. Within one week, the organization had been created, and the appropriate licenses were put into place. After receiving this positive news, he sent another email to those who had positively responded to his request, informing them about his plans to bring this effort to fruition.

               At the end of his work day, he traveled to the lawyer’s office, filled out the necessary paperwork, and could feel his heart racing, knowing that he and his associates were doing a good thing to help those who were alone and unknown. During his lunch break on the next day, he placed an online order for business cards for the new organization. Within two weeks, he received the business cards in the mail and began to create a list of funeral homes, hospitals, and churches that he could approach and communicate the purpose of this new organization.

               At the end of his work day, he sent an email inviting those interested in assisting him to a meeting wherein they could discuss how to move forward and how their work could be accomplished. Within one week, everyone interested arrived at his home, and they planned on how and who to contact with this wonderful new idea.

               Pieter took the next day off of work, and began traveling to the funeral homes, the hospitals, and the churches to discuss how he and his associates could be of service to those who would experience a lonely funeral. Every funeral home praised him for his good idea and his willingness to spend time and money on making a difference in the lives of other people. Of the forty churches that he approached, less than half of them expressed any interest in working with him to be a positive influence on the lives of others.

               Names, dates and locations were provided to Pieter and his associates, giving them the opportunity to create a schedule to visit each lonely funeral so the deceased would not be alone as they departed this world. Eight people were sent to three different lonely funerals and were warmly welcomed by the funeral home personnel, thanking them for attending the service. At each service, the poet who had written a poem of the life of the deceased, read the poem to the small group of people, who did not know the deceased and were more than happy to be involved in acknowledging this person’s existence.

               Names, dates, and locations continued to arrive to the organization email account, as they continued this sacrificial work, Pieter kept careful track of names, dates, and locations over the next twenty years. As each year passed, more people became involved in attending the lonely funerals to hear the poem about the life of the deceased. As twenty years slowly crept by, Pieter realized that he and his associates had attended over one hundred and fifty lonely funerals. On occasion they would receive a letter of thanks from those who knew some of the deceased, thanking them for their work.

               Pieter called a meeting of everyone involved in “Loving the Lonely” to discuss the idea of opening other locations throughout the Netherlands. He received encouraging words and they made plans to reach out to other regions, across the country, to eventually see hundreds of other lonely funerals no longer empty and without attendees. As the other locations began to see success and growth, Pieter was contacted by a local news service, requesting an interview. He shared the raging success that “Loving the Lonely” was seeing, not only in Amsterdam but in the other locations across the Netherlands.

                Pieter could feel himself growing older and weaker and he knew that he would not be able to continue this work and would need to appoint someone else to take over the responsibility when he too would eventually depart into eternity. Multiple decades continued past, and the documentation of each lonely funeral continued. After forty years of their sacrificial work, several news outlets began to announce the work they had been doing for so long.

               The time came when Pieter eventually reposed and his funeral was attended by several hundred people, all of them expressing words of thanks and gratitude for his work and his willingness to acknowledge the situation for so many people who were seemingly forgotten over time. A monument was built in his honor, speaking words of praise for his hard work, his willingness to do the right thing, and his overall love for mankind in general.

               The “Loving the Lonely” organization continued for another two hundred years, making a definite impact on how people thought about those who were unknown and forgotten. Beginning with Pieter, the organization saw eight different leaders take the role when the previous leader reposed. The organization continued to grow with hundreds of people volunteering to attend the lonely funerals and listen to the poems created by the hired poet in honor of the deceased.

               The idea of opening new “Loving the Lonely” offices in other countries was suggested, which took place in Belgium, Germany, France, and Spain. All of the offices across western Europe remained in contact, communicating their success and the joy that was brought into the lives of so many people as lonely funerals were no longer a problem. The leader of “Loving the Lonely” in Amsterdam received news from the United States and Russia that several offices there were being opened and were seeing success in positively impacting those societies.